Dry quenching station arrangement for coke



Aug. 13, 1957 H. H. KOPPERS ETAL 8 DRY QUENCHING STATION ARRANGEMENT FOR coma Filed July 26, 1954 v s Shets-Sheet 1 INVE N T'OPQS H17; HEINRICH (Op 05 95 FR YNZ DOLL their A 7' raga/5 7.

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DRY QUENCHING STATION ARRANGEMENT FOR COKE Fi led July'26 1954 s Shee'Cs-Sheet 2 Fig.5 I Fig.4

1957 H. H. KOPPERS ETAL 2,802,778

DRY QUENCHING STATION ARRANGEMENT FOR COKE FiledJuly 26, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VENT RS. 11AM: HEINRICH wPnF/es (MM/v7 0o.

DRY QUENCHING STATEGN ARRANGEMENT FOR COKE Hans Heinrich Koppers and Franz Doll, Essen, Germany, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Kopp ers Company, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application July 26, 1954, Serial No. 445,592

Claims. (Cl. 202-228) The invention relates to an arrangement for the dry quenching of coke produced in coke ovens, by means of inert gases recirculated in apparatus especially designed for this purpose.

The various equipment known to date to cool the coke by means of recirculated inert gases is usually so designed as to take care of the content of several coke oven charges at the same time. In every case, regardless of whether the design arrangement is in the form of a tower or inclined cooler, the cooling gas had to pass through a large aggregation of coke distributed over a wide area. The cooling procedure, consequently, takes hours and the cool ing effect of the coke is uneven and spotty.

The coke, which is pushed out of the ovens in its incandescent form, varies as to size in its grain construction, so that approximately 5060% is made up of large pieces and the rest of smaller ones up to and including breeze. The coke deposits in the cooling equipment are uneven, so that in some spots a majority of large pieces accumulate and in others a concentration of fines.

Due to the disproportionate resistance thus produced by a coke layer of large coke pieces, the cooling gases in seeking the path of least resistance, by-pass the locations where the greater part of the deposit is made up of coke fines. The invention endeavors to attain an equal and quicker cooling effect by keeping the coke layer at a minimum height, thereby permitting the cooling gases to contact all the coke evenly.

The design developed consists of several inclined cooling chambers, arranged in a battery but capable of serving only the content of one coke oven charge and so arranged that gas passages are equally distributed over the entire cooling area of the equipment.

A more intensive degree of cooling is accomplished, according to the invention by means of an inclined cooling chamber with a grate arrangement therein which follows the inclination of the cooling chamber while having the upper end section of the grate horizontal or at 90, an intermediate section rotated gradually to 180, in spiral fashion, and a final lower end section vertical relative to the horizon, forming two half chamber sections longitudinally of the cooling compartments or chambers. Thus the cooling chamber is divided off into two half chamber sections. The Width of the grate openings in the horizontal section at the upper end ranges from 80- 100 mm. where the coke enters, allowing classification of the coke into large sizes of coke by permitting the finer materials to fall through the grate.

It is advantageous that the grate parts that follow the horizontal classification grate section be constructed so that hardly any, or only a small amount, of gas is allowed to pass through the same at the points where the vertical position is reached.

The cooling gas is introduced through a jacket or inner shell having gas passages into the coke in the two separate cooling chamber halves which are thus formed by the grate, permitting the gas to contact the small as well as large coke particles from all sides.

atctlt 2,802,778 Patented Aug. 13, 1957 Another characteristic of the invention is the construction of the inner shell or jacket for cooling chamber of long steel bars or pipes having a very rough surface and laid side by side or on top of each other, which permits the passage of the cooling gases therethrough and at the same time prevent penetration of the fine coke particles.

According to the invention the inner jacket of the cooling chamber is to the greater extent round with the coke discharge end thereof, especially the bottom, triangular. This permits first an easier coke discharge due to horizontal position of the bottom of the discharge end of the same and secondly the gradual change from the cylindrical to a triangular section permits the cooling gases to pass through inner shell more freely at the extreme end where the coke discharges. Thus the cool gases come in indirect contact with all the coke to be discharged.

Still another characteristic of the invention is the installation' of spray nozzles at' the coke discharge end of the cooling chamber, which permits final cooling of practically the last heat in the coke.

Through the use of such a quenching spray system as a means for final quenching, a steam cushion is developed between the inert gas in the inner shell or jacket and the atmosphere, thus preventing the exit to the atmosphere of inert gases to any great extent.

To prevent the exit of the inert gases completely at the coke inlet to the chamber, steam nozzles are also placed at the coke inlet to the cooling chamber, so that this steam also forms a steam curtain. Preferred for this purpose are nozzles giving a wide spread.

Such a steam curtain can also be provided at the outlet end of the cooling chamber for the exit of the coke in case a quenching spray system was not installed.

It is to be noted that the conventional quenching car, with slanted bottom as customarily used to receive the hot coke at the battery, is suitable to service the new cooling chamber arrangement, which may be located on either end of the battery.

Finally, the invention affords the further advantage that fine ore may be added to the large size coke in the the cooling chamber proper, since the coke fines have been separated already from the larger coke. Such an addition of the fine ore is then made, only when the coke is destined to be used as metallurgical coke. The fine ore serves in this case as an additional cooling medium and agglomerates partially with the glowing coke.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a cooling unit with a quenching car arranged at the inlet end.

Figure 2 is a section taken on line IIII, Figure 1. Figure 3 is a section on the line IIIIII, Figure 1. V Figure 4 is a section on the line 1V-IV, Figure 1. Figure 5 is a section on the line V-V, Figure 1. Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line VIVI, Figure 7, showing a part of the classification grate.

Figure 7 is a top plan view showing a part of the classification grate.

I Figure 8 shows the arrangement of the quenching station battery in conjunction with a coke oven battery.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a quenching car 1 which has a slanted floor plate 2 and into which the coke is deposited by means of a coke guide 3.

In place of the conventional quenching station, concrete walls as indicated by 5 Figures 2, 3, 4 are erected on concrete platform 4 which slopes.

The gas tight open-top compartments 6 thus formed consisting of rectangular sections, are enclosed on top by cast iron plates 7 and insulation 8 to form an outer shell for the coke quenching or cooling chambers 9. I

The cooling chambers 9 are each provided with an inner shell or jacket of long steel rods or pipes 10 which,-

as shown on Figure 4 are arranged in three layers, one above each other.

The rods or pipes have a rough surface such that when placed one above each other or beside each other, the cooling gases still can penetrate into the inner portion of the cooling chamber 9 while the fines do not penetrate outwardly around the jacket.

The rods or pipes 13 are faced on each end by means of a ring type plate 12, grooved at 11 to keep rods or pipes in place, permitting enough play for expansion due to excessive heat. The coke inlet end 13 of the cooling chamber 9 is made up of a cast iron section 14 which is lined with fire brick 15. The coke inlet section has a gas tight cover 16. The outlet section 17 for exit of the coke also has one or two gas tight covers 13.

The cooling chamber 9 contains a rigid inclined grate 19 which begins in the classification section perpendicular to the vertical at the coke inlet end 13, stretches therealong. horizontally on an incline, downwardly towards the outlet end 18, being supported at the inlet end onthe cast iron body 14. The grate 1h continues from the classification section at the coke inlet end of the cooling chamber through the intermediate portion of chamber 9 in a twistling fashion, gradually turning to a position 90 when reaching the lower end, so that the lower final portion ends up in a vertical position as shown on Figure 3. The part of the grate 19 at the coke inlet 13 being constituted as a classification grate, has openings or gaps such as to permit separation of the large coke from the finer particles and breeze while falling downwards alon the grate, the latter passing into a lower part 27 of the cooling chamber 9. Cooled finer particles and breeze are withdrawn at the outlet end of the right hand part 27 and cooled large coke at the outlet end of the left hand part 28.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the portion of grate 19 that is destined, as aforesaid, to classify the coke, has gaps of 80l00 mm., made by means of steel bars, every second bar of which is serrated to accomplish separation of fine coke particles while the coke is rolling down over the serrated edges 49. At point 2d, near the longitudinal middle of the chamber 19, the classification section ends and the grate 19 thereafter serves as a support for the coke only, with the steel bars closely arranged as shown in Figures and. 3 so that hardly any cooling gas can penetrate through the grate. The bars making up the grate, the classification section as well as the rest thereof, are supported at their opposite ends on a horizontal bar 21 which is grooved at 22 to receive them and is rigidly fastened to ring supports 12, thus forming one unit.

The cool cooling gas passing through a main line 23 individually enters all the cooling chambers which make up a battery, entering each chamber through pipe header 24, the nozzles of which are connected to separate flues 25 and 26, which are situated at the bottom of each chamber 29 below the vertical gratepart at the coke discharge end 17, where they discharge cooling gas separately into each half, 27 and 28, of the cooling chambers 9 which are illustrated on Figure 3.

At this region the bottom 29 of cooling chamber 9 is of a triangular section. Through the gradual change from a triangular section to a cylinder as shown on Figure 2 at a point indicated by 39, the gaps between the bars of the inner shell or jacket increase gradually. The cooling gases which enter pass through spaces 58 of this section in much greater quantities to 27 and 28 than the intermediate portion of the inner shell between this section and the coke inlet classification section of grate The rest of the cooling gases flow through the triangular portion 45 between the outer shells 5 and the inner jacket 10 of each cooling chamber 9, Figure 2, and finally pass through the small pass! in the jacket in small quantities into the forward t of the inner cooling chamber 9. The cooling gas flows from 13 at the coke inlet and into a header 31, whereby the cooling gas from the lower right-hand half 27, flowing through the openings in the classification grate above point 21 finds its way to the upper portion 28 of the cooling apparatus.

Steam lines 32 are arranged at the coke inlet end 13 and are connected to the steam nozzles 33 located inside the cooling chamber. The steam nozzles 33 are preferably designed to give a broad pattern so that the steam will cover the total entrance area of the cooling chamber and build a curtain against the atmosphere when charging coke into the inlet end.

At the coke discharge end 17, spray nozzles 34 are arranged inside the wall, which are connected to water header 35. After opening gate 18 which permits the coke to drop on conveyor belt 36 the coke is wet quenched with water by means of the spray nozzles 34, the steam which results therefrom, also forms a steam cushion or curtain that prevents air from entering the cooling chamber through open door 17.

At the intersection 20 where the classification grate portion joins the remaining portion 21 of the grate 19, a hopper 37 permits the addition of fine ore through a gas tight closure, which is not indicated on the drawing, to grate 19, which ore is of a kind constituting another medium to help cool the coke.

This fine ore together with the large coke will discharge through the section 27' which is especially arranged for this purpose. Naturally a separate gate 18 has to be provided in this case for each compartment 27 and 23.

The discharge is preferably done in steps. The supporting rings 12 are to be preferably designed in the form of calottes (balls) as shown at 33, to permit sliding of the fine particles of the coke on the wall of the cooling chamber, while preventing an accumulation of the fine coke at the point of disposal 18. It is also possible to give the steel rods 39 a conical shape as shown in Figure 4 and arrange same up to the height of the inner wall of the supporting rings 12, thus making a continuous bundle.

Figure 8 shows the arrangement of a battery of cooling chambers in front of a. coke oven battery. The coke is pushed from one of the ovens of the battery 4% into the quenching car 1 and brought before the cooling chamber battery 41 which is in readiness for the coke.

The contents of the quenching car are unloaded into the various cooling chambers. The blower 42 connected to the cooling line 23 forces the gas to branches 24 and through the compartments 6 of the cooling chambers 9. The hot inert gas will be discharged from com partments 5 through lines 31 leading to header 43, which brings the spent quenching medium to heat exchangers or means for conversion of water into steam, to drive, for example a turbine, as illustrated and shown at 44. Another portion of the heat in the inert gases is use to heat steam boiler 4-6. The remainder of the heat is extracted by washing the gas to free the gas of all dust in 47 which discharges then back to blower 42.

Preferably as a standby equipment, a quenching tower also should be erected so that incase of failure of the dry quenching systems, or cooling chambers, the coke can be wet quenched. After dry quenching the coke is dumped on the coke Wharf and loaded on conveyor belt 36 through doors 18. Make up inert gas inany amount is added to the system through pipe line 48.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for cooling coke from coke ovens, by means of recirculation of inert cooling gases, comprising: an inclined cooling chamber comprising a gas tight housing, an inner inclined shell inside the inclined cooling chamber with passages in the shell for flow of coolant through the shell to the interior thereof; a grate inside the inner shell and subdividing the shell interior into two longitudinal half compartments and providing an initial upper classification section perpendicular to the vertical but inclined for sliding of coke that enters the inclined cooling chamber, an intermediate section that gradually twists to a position from the position of the initial classification section, and a final vertical lower outlet section in said 90 position at the lower ends of the inclined inner shells; means for introducing inert cooling gases separately to each half compartment through the area between the lower end of the inclined inner shell and the surrounding housing of the inclined chamber; and means-for otltake of the spent cooling medium from above the classification section.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the initial classification grate section provides openings ranging from about 88 to 'lOO mm., and the remainder of the grate to the lower end where the coke discharges have openings such that hardly any cooling gases can penetrate through the grate from one side to the other thereof.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, and in which the cross section of the inner cooling shell is cylindrical around the classification section of the grate and is triangular with a fiat bottom around the lower vertical end section of the grate.

4. Apparatus as claimed in'claim 1, and which includes v spray nozzles arranged forforming a curtain of spray 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and which includes spray nozzles arranged for forming a curtain of spray liquid across the coke inlet end and the coke discharge end of the compartment areas at the discharge end and the upper compartment area at the inlet end of the inner shell to prevent the ingress of atmospheric air during charging hot coke to, and discharging the quenched coke from, the grate inside the inner shell.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and in which both the inner shell and the grate therein are constituted of rods laid side by side and one on top of another.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, arranged alongside a conventional trackway with a quenching car thereon having an inclined coke passage floor, and the entire system arranged at an end of a coke battery with the coke oven battery on the opposite side of the quenching car and its trackway, whereby hot coke in the quenching car can be deposited directly from the car on the trackway into the cooling compartments.

8. Apparatus for cooling coke from coke ovens, by means of recirculating inert cooling gases, comprising: a battery of inclined cooling chambers within a housing and comprising individual inclined compartments all of which together have the capacity of only the content of one full coke oven charge and each of which is closed to gas flow to the others by walls constituting an integral gas tight part of the housing for the battery; an inner inclined shell formed of spaced steel rods insideeach individual compartment, so that cooling medium can flow into the interior of the shell from the space between the shell and the surrounding walls for the compartment; a grate inside the inner shell of each compartment, said grates being composed of spaced side by side steel rods and subdividing the interior of the inner shells each into two longitudinal half compartments and providing in each shell an initial upper classification section perpendicular to the vertical but inclined for sliding of coke that enters the compartments, an intermediate section that gradually twists to a position from the position of the initial classification section, and a vertical final lower outlet section in said 90 position at the lower ends of the inclined inner shells; said initial classification sections providing openings for separating out fines and breeze leaving the larger sizes of coke behind, and the remainder of the grates down to their lower ends where the coke discharges providing such lesser spaces between their steel rods that hardly any cooling gases may penetrate through the grate from one side to the other thereof; means for introducing inert cooling gases separately to each half compartment through the area between the lower ends of the inner inclined shells and the surrounding walls of their individual compartments; means for individual oiftake of the spent cooling medium from above the classification sections of the grates of the respective compartments; and spray nozzles arranged for forming a curtain of spray liquid across at least one of the upper and lower ends of each inner shell where the coke enters at the upper end and leaves the shells at their lower ends to prevent ingress of atmospheric air during charging coke to, or discharging coke from, the grates.

9. Apparatus .as in claim 8 arranged alongside a conventional trackway-with a quenching car thereon having an inclined coke passage floor, and the entire system arranged at an end of a coke oven battery with the coke oven battery on the opposite side of the quenching car and its trackway, whereby the coke in the quenching car can be deposited directly from the trackway into the cooling compartments.

10. Apparatus as in claim 9 with means to feed fine ore into the individual inner compartments at a region beyond their classification grate sections so as to be added to the large coke pieces Where the separation of the large coke pieces from the finer coke particles has already taken place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 873,049 Irving Dec. 10, 1907 1,891,836 Piette Dec. 20, 1932 

1.APPARATUS FOR COOLING COKE FROM COKE OVENS, BY MEANS OF RECIRCULATION OF INERT COOLING GASES, COMPRISING: AN INCLINED COOLING CHAMBER COMPRISING A GAS TIGHT HOUSING, AN INNER INCLINED SHELL INSIDE THE INCLINED COOLING CHAMBER WITH PASSAGES IN THE SHELL FOR FLOW OF COOLANT THROUGH THE SHELL TO INTERIOR THEREOF; A GRATE INSIDE THE INNER SHELL AND SUBDIVIDING THE SHELL INTERIOR INTO TWO LONGITUDINAL HALF COMPARTMENTS AND PROVIDING AN INITIAL UPPER CLASSIFICATION SECTION PERPENDICULAR TO THE VERTICAL BUT INCLINED FOR SLIDING OF COKE THAT ENTERS THE INCLINED COOLING CHAMBER, AN INTERMEDIATE SECTION THAT GRADULLY TWISTS TO A 90* POSITION FROM THE POSITION OF THE INITIAL CLASSIFICATION SECTION, AND A FINAL VERTICAL LOWER OUTLET SECTION IN SAID 90* POSITION AT THE LOWER ENDS OF THE INCLINED INNER SHELLS; MEANS FOR INTRODUCING INERT COOLING GASES SEPARATELY TO EACH HALLF COMPARTMENT THROUGH THE AREA BETWEEN THE LOWER END OF THE INCLINED INNER SHELL AND THE SURROUNDING HOUSING OF THE INCLINED CHAMBER; AND MEANS FOR OFFTAKE OF THE SPENT COOLING MEDIUM FROM ABOVE THE CLASSIFICATION SECTION. 